Summer at Hogwarts - Deathly Hollows Trailer

A new trailer for Deathly Hallows has been released, and since I watched it about 4 times last night i figured I'd share my excitement here.

Here's the trailer in case you haven't seen it



Any thoughts? obvious disappointments or cool additions?

Summer at Hogwarts - Goblet of Fire

It's June 26th and for those of you following the syllabus that means we've just finished Goblet of Fire. Hopefully you weren't to scared by the Triwizard Tournament to keep reading!

Out of the entire series, Goblet of Fire has always stood out as one of my favorites. This read was nothing different. I've always found, as many others have, that Goblet is the transition point from Harry the boy and Harry the teenager with a cause. That's what I really love about year 4 at Hogwarts. In my post about Prisoner of Azkaban I wrote about how annoyed I was at how little happened. That isn't a problem with Goblet of Fire. Things are happening all the time, and when things get slow it's because there are hidden clues.

I know a lot of people have an issue with the 100 pages dedicated to the Quidditch World Cup, but I am not one of them. I liked seeing wizards trying to be like muggles and failing, I like that there's this energy of excitement throughout the beginning of the book and that for once Harry, Ron and Hermione are really happy. Plus we get to see more of the Weasleys, and we all know how much I love them.  

Of course the other big event is the Triwizard Tournament. Another thing I love! I think this has more to do with the fact that there are other wizarding schools with different priorities then with the actual tasks, but the tasks themselves are cool to. I think the tournament forces Harry to grow up in such a way that would never have come to him naturally, and eventually catapults him into the emo brat I so hate in Order of the Phoenix, but more on that in 10 days. 

A few of the others things I love about GoF are:
House Elves (but not SPEW)
Professor Moody - I'm always really sad that Moody is one of my favorite Professor's at Hogwarts but he's been an impostor the whole time!
Dragons
Brother Wands
Albus Dumbeldore

And a few of the things that I could have really done without:
The Yule Ball
SPEW
The first ten pages of the first chapter (The rest can stay. It's at least relevant)
Cedric Diggory
Ludo Bagman

I know I'm in the minority in loving Goblet of Fire as much as I do, and you'll probably get a similar post when we come to Half Blood Prince in July but I hope at least a few of you enjoyed your reread. See you in a few days for your next quiz as well as a Quidditch related challenge

Summer at Hogwarts - Rate Your Professor

Hello fellow Potter readers. Here is your Quiz for Goblet of Fire, a little late but better then nothing!

Goblet of Fire deals with many of the same things that we've seen in the previous three books. We've dealt with Animagi, Hogwarts Houses, Classes, and various other things. This is one of the reasons this quiz is so late. I've had a hard time coming up with things for you to think about, or more accurately, for you to think about intelligently in the Harry Potter universe.

Quiz #6: Who's your favorite professor/staff member at Hogwarts?

And of course, my slightly long winded answer is...

Professor Mcgonagall. She reminds me a lot of one of my favorite teachers in high school, strict, but in a loving way and always willing to help those in her house so long as it is in their best interests. I could easily see myself becoming  a little bit of a teachers pet to her and working hard to earn her respect.
In a similar fashion I think Flitwick is really cool, but I think I'd always be to shy to be on great, chummy terms with him.

Again, sorry for the late post. I'll make it up with some extra ones for Order.

If you're new to Loving Books or Summer at Hogwarts and are interested in seeing previous quizzes they can be found here

Keep Reading and don't touch any accidental portkeys!

Hopping into the Weekend!

It's Friday so you all know what that means!

Another Hop!

For those of you unaware, the Hop, hosted by Crazy-for-Books, is a chance to find all of those cool book blogs that you've been missing. So if you're over from the hop - Hello! I always return visit, even if I don't always comment. If you have no idea what I'm talking about check, what are you waiting for? Check out the Hop!

This week has been a particularly slow week in most ways. I've just been reading Goblet of Fire (which I need to have finished by tomorrow) and working a ton.

I haven't gone shopping this week, at a store or online so my new book list for the week is pretty short.
I won a signed copy of Intimations of Austen by Jane Greensmith from the Jane in June event. I'm really looking forward to sinking down into a comfy chair and devouring these short stories!






Just because I didn't get any other books this week doesn't mean I haven't gotten bookish things. With my first paycheck I splurged and got a Catcher in the Rye shirt from Outofprintclothing.com. It's super comfortable and with every shirt that is sold they donate one book to a community in need.

Here's my new shirt!

And Finally: To all those who are following my Summer at Hogwarts Read-along, I'm sorry i haven't gotten a quiz/question up for Goblet of Fire. I'll try to get something up before I work this evening but if nothing else you'll get a summary post tomorrow and an extra quiz for Order of the Phoenix!

The Sandman - Gaiman

A little over a week ago I was hanging out with my friends when one of them wanted to go to a comic book shop by my house. I didn't know this place existed and wasn't to interested in comics but piled in the car along with everyone and took the two minute ride to the shop.  We didn't stay long and it wasn't a comfortable space for me, but as I was walking along the aisles I saw Neil Gaimans name. Of course I stopped and picked up the comic, intrigued because I read The Graveyard Book earlier this year and have been interested in the rest of Gaimans work. My comic-knowledgeable friend had read the particular comic and thought I would like it, but as it was not the beginning of the series and being more expensive than most books I buy I shrugged it off and insisted we find dinner. I didn't really think any more about Gaiman or the Sandman until yesterday when, after hanging out with my friends again, the comic enthusiast shove The Sandman: Volume One in my hands and told me to read it. So I did. 


I don't really know how to review comics, but here's my best shot.

In PRELUDES & NOCTURNES, an occultist attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. After his 70 year imprisonment and eventual escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On his arduous journey Morpheus encounters Lucifer, John Constantine, and an all-powerful madman. This book also includes the story "The Sound of Her Wings," which introduces us to the pragmatic and perky goth girl Death (From Goodreads)


Now I'm not into superheros or graphic novels. Nothing against them, they've just never interested me. I started The Sandman with little expectation to enjoy it. I was pleasantly surprised. It took me a while to understand what was happening but once I did I couldn't put it down. I got through all 233 pages in an few hours and was curious about what the other volumes contain. My only problem was with the illustrations. I could see that they were detailed and required a lot of skill but they just weren't my cup of tea. Gaimans words, on the other hand were more than enough to make up for the images, in my opinion. I found Dreams and Bettes thoughts to be some of my favorite, for lack of a better word, dialogue.


As always, I love Gaiman's afterword. For some reason I find him writing about his own work more interesting then some of his stories.  


Overall it was an enjoyable read and good for me to get out of my comfort zone. Now back to Goblet of Fire

Hopping & Following & Buying

Hello Everyone. It's Friday (or almost Friday) and that means it's time for another hop. If you don't know what the Hop is you should check out Jen @ Crazy-for-Books blog, she hosts it every Friday.

If you are over from the hop : Welcome! Hope you're having a great Friday and I'll be checking out your blogs soon!   

Now I wasn't going to buy any more books this week, especially since I'm not even halfway through my Summer at Hogwarts read-a-long, but I was at a thrift shop with some friends and they had a surprisingly full book section. Who can turn that down? I got four books and a video game guild for my brother all for $5.50.

Here's what I got-

I don't really know anything about any of these, but they all looked decent enough (ok, Running in Heels looks kinda trashy, but it's summer and that's fine). Have any of you read any of these? I'd love to know what I've gotten myself into :)

Lastly, I've just seen Follow My Book Blog Friday over at Parajunkee's blog and figured I'd give it a go as well. 

To join the fun and make now book blogger friends, just follow these simple rules:

1. Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Host { Parajunkee.com } and any one else you want to follow on the list
2. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing.
3. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say hi in your comments
4. Follow Follow Follow as many as you can
5. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers
6. If you want to show the link list, just follow the link below the entries and copy and paste it within your post! 

Summer at Hogwarts - Prisoner of Azkaban

We're halfway through June and that means that, according to the slightly daunting reading schedule we've come to the end of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Per usual I'll give you all my impression and new discoveries from this read, as well as any questions I've come upon. This will be a little different from past sum ups but as the books get longer I'm trying to sort out the best way to approach summing them up without making everyone scroll a million times. 

I've never been a big fan of Prisoner, not because of the story or anything - If anything it has one of the better plots of the whole series - but so little happens. I mean, the first 300 or so pages really centers on the most typical year Harry has at Hogwarts, it isn't until the very end that anything drastically important happens. 

This pet peeve aside, I really did enjoy this read of Prisoner of Azkaban. I don't think I really ever realized just how much you learn about Rowlings Wizarding World in this book. We see more classes, the Night Bus, Anamagi, Dementors, and of course the Marauders. All of these things are really what makes Azkaban worth rereading for me.  I have a special place in my heart for the Marauders. Sirius and Lupin are the first adults in Harry's life that are, for lack of a better word - cool. They're obviously both flawed, but I think part of what makes them so interesting are their flaws. They have a history, and for a change we actually get to see some of it. 

Other high points this time around:
Qudditich

Crookshanks

The Marauders Map and Hogsmead

Annoyances:
Divination

Malfoy

Hermione's reactions to everything

Biggest Question that has arisen from this specific read through:
How was Peter Pettegrew sorted into Gryffendor?!

Let me know what you thought of your reread? Did you find anything you had skimmed over in the past? Or if you weren't reading along with me any general thoughts?